Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1887-07-07

from no population to a pop
ulation of $1,000. Where there were
no school-houses we now have as good
educational advantages as are to be
found in the state. We have railroads
and communication by telegraph with
all parts of the county and of the world.
The county has been transformed
from wilderness TO community where
all the advantages of modern civiliza-
ton may be enjoyed.
What can a youth like me tell you
about the trials of pioneer life? 1 can
only as one of the children. testify to
what you have done for us. l am
sorry not to see more young people
here to hear from your lips the story
OF those early struggles. You did not
come here to gain any momentary
glory, but to carve out a future for
yourselves and your children. You
have spent your manhood, the best
years of your lives to accomplish this,
aud now you cannot long remain to
enjoy the fruits of your labors. We
of later generation will reap the re.
wards of your industry, and we should
not be backward in acknowledging our
obligation and expressing our gratitude.
When you came here forty, fifty and
sixty years ago, you did not come by
rail. but by prairie schooners, on
horseback and on foot. You could not
communicate readily with the friends
you left behind. You came not from
one, but from every land. Manyleft homes
of luxury and lives of comparative ease
and comfort. You did this for pur-
pose. and that purpose you have ac-
complished. Could the most sanguine
of you have pictured this county as it
now isP Where then the prairie grass
grew you now see waving grain, and
villages and cities, like gems dropped
from heaven, adorn the then desolate
bills and valleys.
From the homes you left you brought
with you the best of the life by which
you were surrounded. Your first
thoughts were for school-houses and
churches. And it is fact for which
we should be grateful that there have
existed no causes for strife. We have,
it is true, had slight political Difference
es, but freedom of opinion has not
been denied. Religious bigotry has
had no place here. The liberty and
peace which we have enjoyed could
not have been attained save through
the efforts of the noblest men and
women. Shall we do as much for our
own and succeeding generations as
you have done for us? / fear not.
The speaker referred to the record
of patriotism upon the monument
whereon arc the names of 800 of Grant
County's patriot soldiers. We shall
not attempt to reproduce the eloquent
peroration with which Mr.. Murphy
ended his address.
''The young may die, the old must. "
Before another meeting of old settlers
some will perhaps have passed away,
but the deeds they have done will al
ways be remembered with gratitude.
A number of gentlemen were called
upon. Some responded and others ex-
cused themselves. Mr.. FL. A. w. Nc
Nair expressed good deal in few
words. He said he enjoyed the hand
shaking and sociability with old friends.
Had it not been for tho pleasant social
relations he had enjoyed in Grant Coun-
ty, he should have long ago become a
citizen of some other.
T. M. Barber said he came here 81
years ago from Vermont. He travelled
on foot from Monroe, Mich. to Potosi,
a distance 500 miles. When he got to
the ferry across the Platte, in the town
of Paris he could not raise the ferry
man and had to swim the river. When
he got to Petosi he had one dollar in
his pocket, land have held my own
pretty we'll ever since" He said he
had been to the Pacific coast and
travelled 10 some twenty-five states but
never found place he liked better
than Grant County.
Hon. Hammer Robbins, of Platteville,
spoke as one who had "enjoyed the
privileges of privation." He spoke of
the characteristic honesty of Grant
county's citizens both in private and
public life. He came to Platteville so
years ago from the state of New York.
He established the first Sunday school
in the county, and he thinks in the state.
He alluded to his "bunkingn with
Judge Mills in Prairie du Chen in
1888 or 9, and they had to get on differ
ent sides of the bed to say their prayers
the Judge being such "bigoted Bap-
tist" while he was Presbyterian.
James Blaine, of Preston, gave a
graphic account of his early experiences.
He came with his parents from Scot
land in 1886 and started as barefoot
boy" They settled in what is now
Waukesha county. He told of the diff
ficulty he had in getting three cents to
pay postage and of walk of 80 miles
with his mother to post it.
Judge Mills gave some "reminiscences
of his life in Prairie du Chen as tutor
in the family of Zach Taylor. His re-
marks were full of interest. He closed
with the apt illustration of the king
who on looking upon the heads of a
vast army under his co mmand, was
Frustrated by the thought that in a
hundred years not one of them would be
alive. But life, he said, would not be worth
living were it not for the thoughts
of the hereafter and the hopes of the
land beyond the river. Uncle Frank
Bonham said he had been a member
of the association ever since there had
been one, and gave sketch of some
of his early experiences. His photo
graph and biography are among the
achives of the society. Mr.. Jeardoe